Ron Kitchens, CEcD

Senior Partner / CEO
Southwest Michigan First
Kalamazoo, MI

Ron is the senior partner and chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First, an economic consulting firm, which includes Consultant Connect and the Inflexion Group He is the publisher of 269 MAGAZINE, board member of Impact Athletic, Past Chairman of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Board Member of Gibson Insurance and a Trustee of Western Michigan University.

Ron is the founder of the leadership conference Catalyst University and the co-founder of NEXT, an invitation-only leadership symposium for global economic development leaders.

Ron and his teams have been extensively featured in over 100 national and international media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, CBS, NBC, Fox, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, The Economist and National Public Radio.

Ron is author/co-author of 4 books, including the bestseller Community Capitalism and his latest book, Uniquely You which released in May of 2019. He blogs and podcasts at ronkitchens.com and can be found on Twitter @ronkitchens.

Southwest Michigan First is recognized as one of the Top 5 Best Places to Work in America by Outside Magazine in 2016, as well as a National Best & Brightest Company in 2016.

Ron speaks globally on leadership, creating thriving multi-generational teams and community capitalism.